Program
Ἄξιόν ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς μακαρίζειν σε τὴν Θεοτόκον, τὴν ἀειμακάριστον καὶ παναμώμητον καὶ μητέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos, the ever-blessed and most pure Mother of our God.
Concert from the “Night Vigils” Series
Αγγελος ἐβόα / “Angel Cried Out”
Performed by musicAeterna & musicAeterna Byzantina Choirs
musicAeterna Women’s Choir
Chief Choirmaster: Vitaly Polonsky
Choirmaster: Katya Dondukova
musicAeterna Byzantina Choir
Choirmaster: Antonios Koutroupis
Ribal Wehbe (vocals, Lebanon)
Yorgos Kaloudis (classical Cretan lyra, Greece)
Alla Kazakova (actress)
Conductor: Teodor Currentzis
Director: Elizaveta Moroz
Details
At the end of Easter Week, two festive choral concerts will take place at the temporary location of Radio House on Nevsky 62. The women’s choir of musicAeterna and the men’s choir of musicAeterna Byzantina, conducted by Teodor Currentzis, will present a new program dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos.
Ancient hymns in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos in Latin, Greek, Coptic, and Russian will be performed with the participation of Lebanese singer Ribal Wehbe, a specialist in Byzantine chant of the Antiochian tradition, and Greek multi-instrumentalist Yorgos Kaloudis, a master of the classical Cretan lyra. The musicians turn to the earliest and most authentic hymns dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, preserved in various liturgical traditions—Greek, Byzantine, Coptic, and Western—from the 3rd–4th centuries to the present day.
New compositions by Teodor Currentzis continue this millennia-old tradition into the 21st century. The hymns will alternate with readings of ancient texts on the life of the Most Holy Theotokos, performed by actress Alla Kazakova.